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Florian Hofmann is Germany’s best young process mechanic: the 20-year-old completed his apprenticeship as a process mechanic in the metallurgical and semi-finished goods industry at the Siegen plant of ThyssenKrupp VDM (Werdohl). In his final examination he achieved the grade “very good” – making him the best of more than 300 apprentices throughout Germany.

And he can now look forward to a special event: on December 12, 2007 the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GCIC) is staging its second ceremony to honor the country’s top apprentices. Hofmann is one of around 230 young people from the various apprentice occupations who will be honored in Berlin by, among others, Germany’s Education Minister Dr. Annette Schavan and GCIC President Ludwig Georg Braun. “Florian Hofmann has achieved a top-class performance which he can be very proud of. As Germany’s highest-graded apprentice in his occupation in 2007, he has an excellent chance of making a successful start to his career,” says Braun.

“We are very proud of our apprentice and delighted he is receiving this honor,” adds Uwe Peutz, head of sheet production at the Siegen plant. Hofmann started his three-year apprenticeship at ThyssenKrupp VDM in October 2004, and was able complete it six months earlier than planned due to his excellent performance. Directly after his apprenticeship he was offered a permanent contract as a steel forming technician. “You can’t beat former apprentices,” says Peutz. Hofmann himself wasn’t expecting his results to be so good. His working life didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts. After finishing secondary school at 16 he was unable to find an apprentice position and so he attended a foundation year at a vocational school in the metal industry, after which he started his apprenticeship at ThyssenKrupp VDM. Now Hofmann, a big music fan, is one of around 90 employees at the hot rolling mill in Siegen, which since 2000 has been part of ThyssenKrupp VDM, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Stainless (Duisburg) involved in the processing of nickel alloys, stainless steels and nonferrous metals.

This year 115 new apprentices started training at ThyssenKrupp Stainless. The apprentice training rate is 6.1 percent, and the total number of apprentices is currently 390, an increase of 20 compared with the previous year.

ThyssenKrupp Stainless provides industrial training in nine different occupations. “ThyssenKrupp Stainless offers its apprentices first-class training and attractive career opportunities,” says Klaus-Peter Hennig, Chief Human Resources Officer at ThyssenKrupp Stainless AG: “Our commitment to training and the high quality of our apprenticeships are part of our social responsibility toward young people. And Florian Hofmann’s performance also reflects well on our training and our trainers.”